Paul Fogarty (Australien)

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Before turning full-time to music in 2001 Fogarty worked as an Investigative Journalist in Australia, exposing fraud, corruption, conflicts of interest, and mismanagement at all governmental and corporate levels across multiple industries and portfolios. He rose to national editor of two bi-weekly industry publications.

Paul’s dogged, hard line questioning and natural sense of irreverence made him a formidable force in the ranks of the fourth estate. But in 2001 at the behest of his girlfriend Paul turned his back on his burgeoning career for a simple, grass-roots life writing songs. He was still writing about global and local issues but with a freedom he’d not been able to approach as a journalist.

“When you work in investigative journalism,„ says Fogarty, “you have gatekeepers who can and do stomp on a lot of your hard work - because it’s too sensitive, too close to home, or creates some kind of conflict within the organisation. What you end up with, as a journalist and writer, is a load of printed hogwash that crushes your soul every time you read it„.

“In songwriting,„ he says. “You can work unimpeded and the truth has at least a chance of surviving.„